Even at a fairly early stage of his career Naji El Mir has already been involved in many cross-cultural projects, solving Arabic and Latin combinations in branding, logo design, broadcast design and corporate identity, his work can be coined as mixture of both Arabic and Western visual cultures.

After just recently subscribing to the Design Week podcast, I’ve caught the session dealing with employment opportunities in design. The interview features Laura Woodroffe, Educational and professional development director at D&AD, amongst others, who gets round the table with the publication’s editor to assess the current situation for design jobs in the UK.

Since my last post on the subject, admittedly I’ve become more and more interested in Monocle. Never has there been a more valid excuse to leave the shopping trolley scurry to the other half, than to spend the duration of the weekly grocery rounds grounded to the magazine section, scanning the pages of this magazine; examining the grid, taking in the illustrations and carefully contemplating exquisite typography.

As someone who spends an inordinate amount of time in bookstores and record shops, It’s nice to find out that a dozen or so of those “oh, that’s a nice design” moments that you have mentally filed away over the last couple of years turn out to be created by the same person. Seen is Rob Carmichael of Brooklyn, who seems to be trucking along nicely doing work for the music and publishing industries. Nice interview with him at Pitchfork (in their new series on album cover design) where I ran across this.

I came across this interview recently of Paul Rand. There are some interesting thoughts Paul Rand has to say over the course of this interview. Specifically some issues that I’ve been thinking of recently, doing fashionable or trendy work for the sake of doing visually “cool” work without any form of communication. Moreover having esthetics and to consider content first and formost when you design. I’ve also found another interview of Steve Jobs speaking about Paul Rand here. Please disregard the late 80s set design in the interview. :) You can see more work by Paul Rand here.

Since 2005 Nicholas Felton has designed and published an Annual Report about his year.

The Feltron Annual Reports present meticulously collected data in playful infographics and crisp typography. It is a carefully placed window into Felton’s life.

At least once a semester, I bring my collection of reports into class to introduce the idea of curating the viewer’s expereince. The elegant color choices, the unusual bindings — even the mailing envelopes — all make the printed piece a delicious graphic treat. They are an exciting reminder of how personal work and professional practice can merge, and that even the infographic can be a playground for self expression.

On the Saville vibe, last night at a sold out Logan Hall London, Peter Saville launched the D&AD’s president lectures. It was a superb evening listening to the philosophies and thinking of this man, from the infamous Factory record covers to his latest role as CD of Manchester, NW England. In the format of interviewed by Adrian Shaughnessy, it was great start to a season of speakers which will include in the coming months Jan van Toorn, David Hillman, Jonathan Ellery and Luke Williamson. For more check the D&AD blog.

Elliott Earls is a multimedia artist whose work is odd, playful, inspiring and obscenelythought provoking. Since 2001, he has been a Designer in Residence and Head of the 2-D Design department at Cranbrook Academy of Art. Elliott’s work takes art, design and music to a totally different realm. His passionate attitude towards his work and approachable personality makes him totally Hug-able. Check our Q&A with him, and you’ll know what we mean!